An Arizona family is grappling with shock after a woman they allowed to stay in their home allegedly abducted their 3-year-old daughter in the middle of the night — only for the child to be found safe days later.
Kehlani Rogers disappeared from her Avondale home overnight Friday. When her parents woke up Saturday morning, she was gone — along with 23-year-old Marina Noriega, a woman described in court documents as someone the family had recently taken in because she needed a place to stay.
Police quickly launched an intensive search and issued an Amber Alert. What followed was a frantic effort to track a toddler who authorities say was taken without permission by someone who had been sleeping under the same roof.
The breakthrough came after a driver contacted police, reporting that he had given a ride to a woman and young child who matched the alert description. According to court records, the driver transported the pair to the City of Maricopa, where Noriega allegedly mentioned plans to catch a train to California.
Surveillance footage later captured Noriega and Kehlani at multiple locations in Maricopa before they were reportedly seen at a QuikTrip convenience store in Phoenix. Police located them there on Sunday, bringing the ordeal to an end.
Authorities said Kehlani appeared to be in good health and showed no signs of physical harm. Investigators do not believe she was injured during the incident.
Noriega was taken into custody at the scene. Initially, she allegedly claimed to be the child’s mother before later admitting she had “made a mistake,” according to court documents. She told investigators she had no plan for the child and denied any intent to harm or sell her.
Police say Noriega acknowledged that she and the child slept on the street during part of the time Kehlani was missing. She reportedly offered no clear explanation for why she traveled to Maricopa or what she intended to do next.
Noriega has been charged with custodial interference and is being held on a $250,000 cash-only bond.
The case has raised unsettling questions about trust and vulnerability. The parents, believing they were helping someone in need, instead found themselves at the center of an Amber Alert.
The incident also comes amid heightened concern in Arizona following the recent disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie from Tucson earlier this month — a case that remains unsolved.
For now, Kehlani is home. But the image lingers: a toddler sleeping on the street with a woman her family barely knew — and a decision to offer shelter that nearly ended in tragedy.
